English Historical Documents, Vol. XII(2): 1874-1914

760 Pages·1977·34.722 MB·English

by  W.D. Handcock (editor)

NUNC COGNOSCO EX PARTE
THOMAS J. BATA LIBRARY
TRENT UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
General Editor
DAVID C. DOUGLAS
M.A., D.Litt., F.B.A.
Emeritus Professor of History
in the University of Bristol
ENGLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
General Editor: David C. Douglas, m.a., d.litt., f.b.a.
VOLUMES
I c.500-1043 Dorothy Whitelock, c.b.e., m.a., litt.d., f.b.a.
II 1042-1189 David C. Douglas, m.a., d.litt., f.b.a., and G. W.
Greenaway, m.a.
III 1189-1327 Harry Rothwell, b.a., ph.d.
IV 1327-1485 Alec R. Myers, m.a., ph.d., f.r.hist.s., f.s.a.
V 1485-1558 C. H. Williams, m.a.
*VI 1558-1603 Douglas Price, m.a., b.litt., f.s.a.
*VII 1603-1660 Ivan Roots, m.a., f.r.hist.s.
VIII 1660-1714 Andrew Browning, m.a., d.litt., f.b.a.
IX American Colonial Documents to 1776
Merrill Jensen, m.a., ph.d.
X 1714-1783 D. B. Horn, m.a., d.litt., and Mary Ransome, m.a.
XI 1783-1832 A. Aspinall, m.a., d.litt., and E. Anthony Smith, m.a.
XII Pt 1 1833-1874
G. M. Young, m.a., d.litt., and W. D. Handcock, m.a.,
b.litt.
Pt 2 1874-1914
W. D. Handcock, m.a., b.litt.
* in preparation
GENERAL PREFACE
E
NGLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS is a work designed to meet a
present need. Its purpose is to make generally accessible a wide selection of
the fundamental sources of English history.
During the past half-century there has been an immense accumulation of
historical material, but only a fraction of this has been made readily available to
the majority of those who teach or who study history. The transcendent impor¬
tance of the original authorities is recognised, but direct approach to them
remains difficult, and even some of the basic texts (which are frequently
quoted) are hard to consult. A gulf has thus opened between the work of the
specialist scholar and those students, both at schools and universities, who best
can profit by his labours. Historical studies tend too often today to consist of a
commentary on documents which are not included in the available books; and,
in the absence of any representative and accessible collection of the sources, the
formation of opinion proceeds without that direct study of the evidence which
alone can give validity to historical judgment. Correspondingly, the reading
public outside schools and universities has no adequate means of checking, by
reference to the evidence itself, tendentious or partial interpretations of the past.
The editors of these volumes consider that this situation now calls for a
remedy. They have striven to supply one by providing what they hope can be
regarded as an authoritative work in primary reference.
An enterprise of this nature could only be effective if planned on a large
scale. In scope and content, therefore, these volumes differ materially from the
conventional “source-books” which usually contain only a restricted number of
selected extracts. Here, within much wider limits, each editor has sought to
produce a comprehensive corpus of evidence relating generally to the period
with which he deals. His aim, in each case, has been to present the material
with scholarly accuracy, and without bias. Editorial comment has thus been
directed in the main towards making the evidence intelligible, and not to
drawing conclusions from it. Full account has been taken of modern textual
criticism to compile a reliable collection of authentic testimony, but the reader
has in general been left to pass his own judgment upon this, and to appraise for
himself the value of current historical verdicts. For this reason, everything in
this work has been presented in such a manner as to be comprehensible by
readers of English, and critical bibliographies have been added to assist further
investigation.
The present volume, like its predecessor, is concerned mainly with the
Victorian age, and the legacy which that age left to posterity. Its primary
purpose has been to illustrate, chiefly from the public records, the main
in
£96170
IV GENERAL PREFACE
movements in English history between 1874 and 1914: namely the transformation
of the political, social and economic structure of England during these years
as a result of the growth of industrialism and democracy. The scope of the
book, the unity of the period with which it deals, and the wide ramifications
of the central theme which it seeks to display, are explained by the editor in his
general introduction. He has drawn his material from a variety of sources, some
of which are little known, and it is hoped that his work provides essential con¬
temporary evidence of an historical process whose consequences are still to
be felt not only in England but in many other countries in the world.
All concerned in this series are fully aware of the magnitude of the under¬
taking to which they have addressed themselves. They are conscious of the
hazards of selecting from the inexhaustible store of historical material. They
realize also the difficulties involved in editing so large a mass of very varied
texts in accordance with the exigent demands of modern scholarship. They
believe, however, that the essential prerequisite for the healthy development of
English historical studies is wider acquaintance with the original authorities for
English history. And they are content that their work should be judged by the
degree to which they have succeeded in promoting this object.
David Douglas
VOLUME XII (2)
ENGLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
1874-1914
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2019 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/englishhistorica0012unse